Traffic - Movie Review

A fateful day September 16.

• A superstar’s (Rahman) movie is getting released.
• A traffic constable (Sreenivasan) is rejoining duty after getting suspended for accepting bribe.
• A doctor (Kunchacko Boban) buying a car for his wife as a wedding anniversary gift.
• A budding TV journalist (Vineeth Sreenivasan) getting all set to do his first live interview programme.

“Traffic” interweaves the lives of the above characters - How a fatal accident affects 12 hours of their life. Nothing more about the storyline.

Rajesh Pillai had earlier directed “Hridayathil Sookshikkaan” which received a lackluster response from the audience. This time he did a truly remarkable comeback which no many directors are able to do after their debut movie fails miserably. Throughout the movie, you can feel his brilliance in handling such a complex script.

Mejo has given us a haunting background score in the movie.

Bobby & Sanjay had earlier written “Ente Veedu Appoontem” &“Note Book” has given us a tight, racy script with no or very less loopholes. One of the negatives pointed out by many was about the “Bilal Colony” scene. I liked that scene for obvious reasons J

This movie had a big star cast and almost everyone did a decent job.

This movie will keep you in the edge of your seats. It’s a thriller which you never experienced before in Malayalam cinema. A movie that truly requires a standing ovation. In one word – “Terrific!!!”

Size Does Matter!!!

Last Sunday I was waiting for my train on the over-bridge at Ernakulam Jn railway station. As expected my train was late by half an hour. Just then I saw my colleague Vinod Sreedharan coming out from a train as his train had a halt at this station for 15 minutes. Vinod did not see me. He got down the train and was looking closely at the passengers in the platform.

Just then he happened to see a boy (for communication sake he will henceforth be known as Babu) selling uzhunnu vadas. He called up Babu and asked for the price.

Though I could not hear their conversation, this is what I could infer by seeing their actions and expressions.

Vinod: “How much for one plate”

Babu: “Rs.15/- sir”

Vinod: “Oh and how many vada’s in one plate?”

Babu: “You will get 2”

Vinod: “What if I want just one?”

Babu: “I will not sell it to you”.

Vinod: “Ok… In that case please give me a plate of vadas”

The boy gave him 2 vadas. Vinod took the vadas and looked at it. He found one smaller than the other.

Vinod: “Why is that??”

Babu: “What sir??”

Vinod: “Why is this one smaller than the other?”

Babu takes one vada back from Vinod compared it with the rest and gave him 2 of equal size and hurried away.

Vinod looked at both the vadas again, made sure that they are of the same size and started eating it.

But his train did not start even after 15 min. Just then he saw Babu coming back after selling vadas at other compartments. As he came close Vinod smiled and called him. But Babu was smart. He quickly changed his direction and got into another halted train to sell the remaining vadas!

300 Witnesses, An Open-and-End Case But Still…... “No One Killed Jessica” – A Review

I had huge expectations when I went out to watch this movie - the reason being director Rajkumar Gupta. I was very much impressed with his previous movie “Aamir” which showcased a brilliant director in him.

Aamir had a good tagline that described the entire movie “Kaun Kehta Hai Aadmi Apni Kismat Khud Likhta Hai?” I watched this gem in an almost empty theatre in the first week of its release. Close to 2.5 years have passed and now Rajkumar Gupta is back with No One Killed Jessica. This time, maybe due to the hype created around it I saw it with close to around 85% occupancy at Cinemax, Kochi. But the question is – did the movie live upto its expectations? Does it move like a documentary or like a thriller?

The movie starts by showing how Jessica was murdered for refusing a drink to a politician's son after the bar had been closed. The film then trails the case over the years with witnesses being threatened and bribed, quest for justice by Jessica’s family, etc

This time Rajkumar Gupta has added enough commercial ingredients to cater to the mainstream audience. His direction is top-notch. Vidya Balan and Rani Mukherjee did justify their character by giving a supercharged performance. Myra who played Jessica was just natural. Rajesh Sharma who played the cop in charge of this murder case portrayed his character really well.

Positives:
1. Good Direction and Screenplay
2. Commendable performances by all the cast
3. High on emotional quotient yet thrilling

Any negatives?

Yes. The films portrayal of high-society as caricatures. It is hard to digest that a high-society person would sit in a police station and ask the how they manage to work without an AC!

Also the slow pace at some places.

Leaving aside such minor blemishes this is one gutsy movie which is racy like a thriller yet evokes your sentiments. I couldn’t have asked for a film better than No One Killed Jessica to start off this New Year. So don’t miss this one guys. It’s worth your money!!!